Leaving babies outside to sleep …..Scandi craze.

My twins happily napped in their cosy pram back in the 1960’s
They always slept better at night if outdoors all day
Seemed sensible to me

My mum - a qualified children’s nurse - said I was always put outside in my pram in all weathers apart from fog
I was born in December 1954. Both my children went outside too - well wrapped up.

Babies outside was to enable them to gain Vit D from the light. It is interesting now that babies don't spend time outside that there are so many found to lack vit D and presumably reduced bone strength. The girls particulary may well be more susceptible to fractured hips after menopause. It is very difficult to make up the deficit later.

The reduction of playing outside, walking to school, break times & sports at school may also lead to more fracture problems in old age.

My mum used to do that 75 years ago, right until baby snatching started. We lived in a terraced house and like many, the front door opened on to the street, but there were plenty of local people out and about, plus neighbours. Then we got a house with a garden so children were out in all weathers, suitably dressed for it.

Sunshine and fresh air were thought good.

My brother and I were always left out in the garden as were DS1 &DD, but when I saw a squirrel trying to get through the cat net DS2 stayed indoors.

I was certainly left outside to sleep in the pram in 1948/49. However, looking back it doesn’t seem safe as my parents and other relatives all lived in tenements, and couldn’t always see the prams from their windows. Mine were left outside in the 70’s, but we had a back garden, and could keep an eye on the pram.

1968 and 1973 both babies in there high prams and out on the lawn for naps.

couldn't do that these days with small pram/pushchairs.. and of course it is no longer safe to leave a child unattended anywhere!

In the 1940’s my brother and I, were always put outside in our big prams - whatever the weather. My father was Swedish however! In the 1970’s our 3 children were mostly inside as far as I remember- we were in a flat until the third arrived so not much outside space.

Mine were outside in all weather's.. only one near disaster when a strong wind blew over a workman's ladder which crashed to the ground a few inches from the pram! But hood was up so baby was safe and snug and didn't wake .

I think it's wrong to describe it as a "Scandi craze" - it's just that the Scandis just never stopped doing it when it became unfashionable in the UK.

One reason is that many Scandi families walk with their babies daily. The tiny buggies that you see in the UK never really caught on (although many people keep a tiny buggy in the car for quick supermarket dashes). So you walk with the baby or visit local shops - and then when you get home you leave the sleeping baby outside.

If you walk with your baby in a Scandi country you need a more substantial pram and you need big wheels to manage snow - at least 10inches/25cm. So prams are more substantial - but obviously more modern than a coach built built Silver Cross. The Scandi prams lie absolutely flat, even without the carrycot, so children can continue to nap in them until they are 3 or 4, and they can be folded up.

So as I say - it's not a new craze - just something Scandi parents have always done. Remember the Danish mum who was arrested and jailed in 1997 New York for leaving her baby outside to sleep?

Both mine went outside in the mid 80s, all snuggled up inside their silver cross pram. Both healthy, strapping 6ft 4 and 6ft 5

My lot starting from 1962 went outside.
I always had a garden so it was safe.
Only fog and seeing neighbours cats in the garden, stopped me from parking the baby outside. All have grown up without problems. Unlike my many grand and great grandchildren who have cold and snuffles due to being forever inside centrally heated homes.

All 4 of my children .went outside .in their silver cross prams .always had cat net on .fresh air is always good ,

Living and working on a smallholding, my babies were always out with me in their prams. Just a way of life for us.

This is quite common, I believe, in some colder countries. Interested in Russian history, I have found photos of Russian babies in state nurseries sleeping outside in thick snow-and snow is heavy in that country! Quite cute, rows and rows of them snuggled up in their prams. The Soviet government recommended it a a way to ensure the population grew up strong and healthy. I always put my own babies to nap in the garden in their prams. Not much snow where I live though!

My children were outside in pram to sleep during the day. 1st born in 1971 lived in a flat but had a lovely balcony able to take a pram. Moved to house and garden next year and new arrivals always slept outside. Pram always had a cat net on. Lived in London in those days and prams were left outside shops if baby asleep. Prams were well cushioned and had good springs in those days unlike today, I feel they are glorified carry cots!

Mine were breast fed and they were fantastic sleepers

I can’t see it happening much nowadays, not with breastfed babies anyway, if only because the old 4 hourly feeds schedule has gone out of the window and many babies seem to be almost permanently ‘plugged in’.

What could be better than a hot cuppa and a piece of toast while the baby was sleeping outside in the pram. Well earned bliss

My granny was left to bring up 7 children by herself so had a hard time . Late into the evening one day she looked around and asked where the " bairn " was.Turned out he was still at the bottom of the garden where she had put him for a nap in the afternoon and was sound asleep . This " bairn " went on to be an engineer on ship which were part of the Arctic convoys in WW2 and got medals from the UK and Russia . He also lived until he was over 90.

We were always put outside for a sleep, and did the same with our children, but we had a back garden. Some did put their prams outside the front door too, or even 😱😱 leave a sleeping baby in a pram outside a shop. That was before there was so much worry about whether someone would steal your child.

I was talking about this yesterday to my DIL who has a 10 week old baby. She was horrified that it used to be the norm to put babies outside to sleep, her concern was the safety angle rather than the health one. A few years ago we did a Northern Lights cruise in Norway and visited a coffee shop quite a long way inside the Arctic Circle. There were rows of prams with babies outside while the mums met up inside.

Both my babies were left outside snuggled up the pram infall winter weather apart from fog - this was on the advice from the Community Midwife although we did have a carport which kept the rain off but they still beneffited from the fresh air.

My DGC attended a nursery where the babies were put outside for their naps. A line of big old fashioned prams under a cover but open otherwise. They were easily seen through the window but there was usually a group of children playing outside anyway, so always staff around. The children went out in all weathers and also did a Forest school where they were taken out for the day and played in woods, watching a camp fire and making hot chocolate. It isn't just sleep outside children need, it's experiences like that.

The old saying "What goes around, comes around" comes to mind! My 60s and early 70s babies all slept outside in their prams, in all weathers. The exception was the eldest who was born in Singapore - he was better off indoors in the kitchen-diner with the fan going! Fresh air never harmed the others. But then again, not getting fresh air hasn't harmed later generations! I don't think nowadays putting a baby outside to sleep in towns, where the air is so polluted, would be a good idea however. But in a quiet country garden? Almost criminal not to!